Carter's (CRI) Competitors

Carter's (NYSE:CRI) and Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Does the media prefer CRI or COLM?

In the previous week, Carter's had 16 more articles in the media than Columbia Sportswear. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Carter's and 5 mentions for Columbia Sportswear. Columbia Sportswear's average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat Carter's' score of 0.11 indicating that Columbia Sportswear is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Carter's	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Columbia Sportswear	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CRI or COLM?

Columbia Sportswear has higher revenue and earnings than Carter's. Carter's is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Columbia Sportswear, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carter's	$2.84B	0.32	$185.51M	$3.77	6.71
Columbia Sportswear	$3.41B	0.86	$223.27M	$3.92	13.66

Do insiders and institutionals believe in CRI or COLM?

47.8% of Columbia Sportswear shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Carter's shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 48.3% of Columbia Sportswear shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend CRI or COLM?

Carter's presently has a consensus price target of $30.25, indicating a potential upside of 19.66%. Columbia Sportswear has a consensus price target of $60.80, indicating a potential upside of 13.52%. Given Carter's' higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Carter's is more favorable than Columbia Sportswear.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carter's	3 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.40
Columbia Sportswear	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is CRI or COLM more profitable?

Columbia Sportswear has a net margin of 6.59% compared to Carter's' net margin of 4.79%. Carter's' return on equity of 20.68% beat Columbia Sportswear's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carter's	4.79%	20.68%	7.29%
Columbia Sportswear	6.59%	12.97%	7.93%

Which has more volatility & risk, CRI or COLM?

Carter's has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Sportswear has a beta of 1, suggesting that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Is CRI or COLM a better dividend stock?

Carter's pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Columbia Sportswear pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Carter's pays out 26.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Sportswear pays out 30.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Carter's is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Columbia Sportswear beats Carter's on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.